Our Campaigns - Candidate - Alexander Downer

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Downer, Alexander

CANDIDATE DETAILS

Affiliation

Liberal

Name

Alexander Downer

Address

, South Australia , Australia

None

Website

None

Born

September 09, 1951 (73 years)

Contributor

Karma Policeman

Last Modifed

Karma Policeman
Apr 27, 2007 09:29am

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Alexander Downer has been Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs since the election of the Howard Government in March 1996, and has held the seat of Mayo for the Liberal Party continuously since 1984.

Born in 1951, Mr Downer was educated at Geelong Grammar School, Victoria; Radley College, Oxford, United Kingdom; and the University of Newcastle on Tyne, United Kingdom. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Politics and Economics and is a Doctor of Civil Laws (honoris causa).

Prior to entering Parliament, Mr Downer held a number of senior positions in government and the private sector:

* Economist, Bank of New South Wales (Westpac), from 1975 to 1976;
* Diplomat, Department of Foreign Affairs from 1976 to 1982, serving at the Australian mission to the EEC; Australian Representation to NATO; Australian Embassy, Belgium and Luxembourg; and Senior Foreign Affairs Representative in South Australia;
* Political Adviser to the former Prime Minister, the Hon. Malcolm Fraser, and Political Adviser to the Federal Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Andrew Peacock, from 1982 to 1983; and
* Executive Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce, from 1983 to 1984.

Mr Downer has held a number of other senior Parliamentary positions. He stepped down as Opposition Leader in January 1995 and became Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. Mr Downer served in this capacity until the election of the Howard Government. He has also served as Shadow Minister in a number of portfolios: Treasurer (1993-1994), Defence (1992-1993), Trade and Trade Negotiations (1990-1992), Housing and Small Business (1988-1989) and Arts, Heritage and the Environment (1987).

Since becoming Foreign Minister in 1996, Mr Downer has overseen a range of important developments on the international stage, including:

* The adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1998, which bans all nuclear weapons test explosions and all other nuclear explosions for all time;
* A leadership role in the Bougainville Peace Process, which has brought peace to an area which had seen terrible bloodshed through civil war;
* Overseeing Australia's role in the development of the International Criminal Court statute and ensured its ratification by the Australian Parliament;
* Delivering an independent East Timor by urging Indonesia to give the people of East Timor a vote on their future and then successfully negotiating at the UN for a Chapter Seven resolution to deploy peace-keepers;
* The negotiation of the East Timor Gap Treaty, securing prosperity for East Timor;
* A key part in National Security Committee of Cabinet deliberations on Australia's role in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts;
* Increased co-operation with our regional partners on the crucial issue of counter-terrorism;
* A new era of co-operation with Indonesia through the co-hosting of a Ministerial meeting on Counter Terrorism, the establishment of the Indonesia Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation and the co-hosting of two Ministerial meetings on combating people smuggling;
* Establishing Human Rights Dialogues with China, Iran and Burma;
* The Regional Assistance Mission for Solomon Islands (RAMSI), which has seen the restoration of peace and stability to a deeply troubled Pacific neighbor;
* Establishing the Youth Ambassadors for Development program;
* Establishing the Centre for Democratic Institutions to help build better governance in the region;
* Resuming diplomatic relations with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea;
* Campaigning for a comprehensive response in the region to HIV/AIDS through the establishment of a $600 million aid program and chairing the first ever regional summit on HIV/AIDS which was hosted in Australia in 2001, and co-chairing the second regional summit on HIV/AIDS in Thailand in 2004.
* Reform of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service;
* Realigning the foreign aid program to focus on improved governance, assisting developing countries maximise the benefits of globalisation and strengthening regional security;
* Overseeing two white papers on foreign policy.

Mr Downer is married to Nicky. They have three daughters, Georgina, Olivia and Henrietta, and one son, Edward.

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